varying
by dellums
Summary: seventy-two sentences for zemyx.


**Author's Notes:** Help, I can't stop writing Zemyx.

Um, this idea came from **thetinynocturne**, because she did this beautiful 50-prompt thing for AkuRoku and I love it so much. It's a lot better than this one, and hotter, too. So, if you wanna just click out of this page and go read "Like No One Else", I will personally pave the way with the golden tiles and rose petals and line the path with scented candles and join you there very soon.

The list I stole these from had like 100 prompts originally, but I chose the ones I felt like writing and did those instead, oops. Also, I didn't really edit this. Uggghh.

Enjoy the run-on sentences and blatant misuse of semicolons and other such mid-sentence punctuation. Good night.

* * *

><p><strong>Seventy two is a magic number.<strong>

1. First Impression

Zexion frowned a little, looking the grinning blond up and down skeptically before turning back to Axel and saying sagely, "At least he doesn't have tattoos on his face."

2. Beautiful

Ten-year-old Demyx couldn't help the giggle that bubbled out as he studied Princess Zexion's unimpressed face in the mirror, hair adorned with butterfly clips and a plastic, bejeweled tiara; all that was missing was a dress, and he would surely be the most beautiful princess in all the land.

3. Mock

Demyx brushed strands of his sandy hair into his face, running fingers through it to keep it in place over his right eye; Zexion drew the line when he started quoting Shakespeare and claiming to be sexually attracted to literature (in a surprisingly good impression of Zexion's monotonous voice).

4. Smile

It rarely lasted more than a second and was often only shown when he was doing something utterly stupid, but Demyx had come to memorize Zexion's smile better than the sheet music to "A Whole New World".

5. Feather

Demyx placed a fluffy, white feather over Zexion's mother's grave and explained, prompted by the other's raised eyebrow, that it would make sure her spirit made it safely to heaven; "… She would have loved you, Demyx."

6. Tease

Late at night, he got a phone call from Demyx: "I won't be able to make it to your house tomorrow, Zex; I got grounded for punching Xigbar in the face because he called you short and made fun of your glasses."

7. Pure

And looking down into his eyes – both of them visible for once – Demyx had no doubt in his mind that Zexion's whispered confession had come straight from the heart.

8. Lie

It was Halloween night, and Demyx struck a pose as Jareth the Goblin King; Zexion, who looked up from the vampire fangs he was trying to put on, blinked a few times and stated, "I suppose Axel wasn't lying when he said those pants left nothing to the imagination."

9. Fight

The first time they argued, it quickly turned into a pillow fight and, somehow, Zexion ended up in bed with a concussion and a profusely-apologizing Demyx to nurse him back to health.

10. Evasion

"We can't avoid this topic forever, you know – eventually we're going to have to decide what we're going to do when the zombie apocalypse hits."

11. Fire

Zexion huddled under the blanket next to Demyx, wiggling his toes at the glowing fireplace while the blond hummed Christmas carols under his breath and kept his sleepy gaze on the plate of cookies labeled, "For Santa".

12. Ice

After falling flat on the ice approximately four billion times, Zexion refused to let go of Demyx's hands until he could take off the stupid skates and go home.

13. Cheer

Demyx knew Zexion was taking some kind of important, fancypants college-entrance exam, but he couldn't help but bombard him with encouraging, good-luck text messages all morning long; when the test was over, Zexion turned his phone back on and he was sure the smile on his face was brighter than Times Square at night.

14. Teamwork

Zexion stood back next to Demyx, brushing clouds of flour and sugar off of his clothes and hands, admiring the homemade birthday cake they'd slaved over for hours… and paused; "… It says 'Happy Birthday, Rox-_ass'_, doesn't it?"

15. Kiss

A surprised gasp and fluttering eyelashes – Zexion would always write it off as a cheesy cliché, but Demyx claims that their first kiss (and every one after it) left him seeing fireworks.

16. Book

Flipping through the sparse amount of books in Demyx's room, Zexion accidentally came across his diary; he never knew one person could write so many entries about his own hair.

17. Magic

Zexion pressed play on the DVD player, and the rest was like magic; Demyx abandoned the kazoo he was trying to learn to play in favor of singing along with Ariel about being a part of a different world.

18. Work

When the alarm went off that morning, they both silently agreed to skip work that day, and returned to snoozing warmly entwined in each other's body heat.

19. Fly

Only slightly worried, Zexion called out, "You can't fly, idiot, you're only in third grade," but Demyx didn't appear to have heard, because he jumped from the top of the jungle gym with his arms spread wide and a huge grin on his face; the blond later found out that Zexion had absolutely nothing against using the phrase "I told you so".

20. Snow

One step outside into the crunching snow on the ground, and Zexion was locking himself inside again, silently rejoining Demyx in bed and hoping to hibernate all through the winter.

21. Ride

As they handed their tickets off and passed through the tiny gate, Zexion narrowed his eyes at the "You Must be THIS Tall" sign and latched onto Demyx's arm for dear life – rollercoasters weren't exactly his thing.

22. Castle

Number Nine hated the Castle – it was too white, too blank and empty and full of unfeeling Nobodies that didn't think about anything except for Kingdom Hearts, and it seemed that none of them cared for him or his music, now that Number Six was gone…

23. Empty

When Demyx discovered that Zexion's iPod was devoid of anything but long, boring college lectures, he took it upon himself to fill the empty iTunes library with megabytes upon megabytes of _tasteful _music.

24. Longing

After a while, Zexion admitted to himself that his staring problem was getting a bit creepy; when class was over, he walked up to Demyx and admitted that he really just wanted to touch his hair.

25. Waiting

Zexion was about to give up and go home – after all, this was only their second date and he wasn't even sure he liked the guy that much – but when Demyx showed up armed with a bundle of flowers as his excuse of being late, Zexion gave in, and even let Demyx hold his hand.

27. Sing

It took several trips to a karaoke bar, a few rounds of drinks, and seventeen "_Pleeeeeeaaaase, Zexion?_"s before Demyx actually got to hear his boyfriend sing; it was worth the trouble.

28. Silence

Zexion woke up to the unnatural sound of silence; checking the apartment for anything and wondering if Demyx had been murdered, he finally discovered the blond asleep with his guitar in hand, a half-written love song scrawled out in the margins of his homework.

29. Embrace

Demyx had never seen Zexion cry, but that night, holding him until he sobbed himself into a desperate sleep, he decided that he never wanted to see it again.

30. Drink

When _both_ Luxord and Demyx showed up in a hung-over stupor to his class the next morning, Professor Zexion sighed and at the last moment, prepared too shout and wake them both up, he decided he didn't have the heart.

31. Warmth

Demyx leaned down and kissed Zexion squarely on the nose, wrapping a black-and-white scarf nicely around his neck and hugging him like his life depended on it; kind of like that cheesy Christmas song, Zexion felt warm all the way home.

32. Cold

Irked and frozen, Zexion mumbled into Demyx's neck, "I hope you didn't 'forget' to pay the electricity bill just so we would have to sleep so close and naked together."

33. Kindness

Demyx is a regular; he stops by at least every day Zexion is working, and possibly others, as well (he is easily Zexion's favorite customer because he doesn't ask for extra sugar and he always pays with just enough cash so that Zexion doesn't have to deal with giving change – he also leaves generous tips, but that's completely beside the point).

34. Hope

When their neighbors came over complaining of Demyx's early-morning shower singing for the sixth time that week, Zexion gave up on any hope he'd been harboring of leading a normal life with the blond; they were going to have to invest in a home with soundproof walls soon.

35. Creative

Somehow, Demyx got it into his mind that painting would be an excellent way to exercise his creativity; when Zexion woke up covered in acrylic paint and glaze, he sat Demyx down and explained that maybe visual art wasn't his forte.

36. Rest

Zexion didn't quite approve of Demyx's sleeping habits, but as long as he was awake for late-night snuggling, he didn't really care _when_ the blond got his rest.

37. Entwined

Sly and discreet, Zexion glanced around to make sure the hall was empty, before reaching out and slipping his hand into Demyx's, who entwined their fingers together and smiled.

39. Hidden

It's just a tree, really, one in the middle of a tall field of grass and sunflowers, but it's a secret – secluded and hidden from reality, and when Demyx settles down on the blanket and beckons for Zexion to join him, he smiles because it's all theirs.

40. Bright

Demyx wakes up to the loud, tasteless buzzing of his cellphone and his eyes water determinedly against the brightness of the tiny screen – when the words "I miss you" pop up in a text from Zexion, Demyx unplugs his phone and keeps it on his pillow next to him all night long.

41. Shadows

"And this one's Saïx," Demyx says sourly, holding his hands up in front of the flashlight and creating a shadow puppet of a deformed puppy; Zexion snorts and joins in, using his own hands to make an alligator chomp down on Saïx-puppy's poor head.

42. Heart

It had been a bad day, Zexion knew, so when Demyx sniffed loudly and walked through the door, throwing his clothes and school bag to the floor before coming to a stop in the doorway, standing there broken and tearful, Zexion grabbed him by the hand and tugged him to the bed, lying still until they both fell asleep to the sound of the other's heartbeat.

43. Sacrifice

"I'm sorry, Zexion, I couldn't rescue you in time!" Demyx shouts, watching as Zexion abandons his XBOX controller and walks away from his character dying on screen; Demyx only mourns for a moment, before he's back to whacking away at digital zombies and leveling up his one-handed attacks.

44. Eye

Demyx pauses and reaches up to brush strands of dark hair away from the left side of Zexion's face – when he can no longer see only one eye, he smiles and leans in to kiss Zexion senseless.

45. Blood

Zexion beats the rabid zombie to death (un-death?) with a baseball bat he'd found on the street, slamming it into his face over and over, even after he's dead on the ground and nothing more than a pile of greenish, rotting flesh and protruding bones; panting, he turns to stare at a wide-eyed Demyx, covered in splatters of dripping blood: "He… got blood on my shirt."

46. Bandage 

Demyx covered up Zexion's tiny paper cut with a pink, Cinderella-themed band-aid: "Want me to kiss it better?"

47. Wound

He skipped dinner and snuck from his house, navigating the streets at night until he made it somewhere safe, familiar; Demyx opened the door and took in the collection of bruises accumulating on Zexion's face with knowing eyes, instantly tugging him inside and in for a gentle hug.

48. Pain

When Demyx got his first piercing and his wisdom teeth pulled, Zexion was there – likewise, when Zexion was dragged to a Jonas Brothers concert with his sister, Demyx was there (jumping around and singing along, no less).

49. Friendship

"This means we're best friends forever," Zexion stated matter-of-factly, slipping a blue and purple beaded bracelet onto Demyx's thin wrist; he shook the matching one around on his own arm and nodded confidently, sealing fate with a secret handshake and plans to share their snacks in class.

50. Betrayal

"I thought we were friends," he croaked, voice breaking; Axel looked on at Demyx, sad and lost as he mourned the loss of their superior, Number Six – he didn't quite get the attachment the two Nobodies had had for one another, but seeing Demyx like that left him with a broken feeling of guilt somewhere in the emptiness of his chest.

51. Fragile

Zexion walked through the home of Demyx's parents casually, admiring the family portraits as his boyfriend helped his mother in the kitchen and – turning a sharp corner a little _too_ sharply, Zexion had approximately zero seconds to react before the crash of a vase hitting the tile floor resounded expensively through the hallway; panicking, Zexion found Demyx again and urgently told him that they needed to leave now.

52. Unbreakable

When Demyx watched the bullies pick on Zexion at school, he thought it was the most amazing thing that he could just pick himself back up again and carry on like nothing was wrong at all, like he was still happy and still _safe_ – Demyx thought Zexion was the strongest person in the world.

53. Royalty

Somehow, Zexion had gotten it into his head that he was descended from royalty – others may have been annoyed by his condescending and haughty remarks, but Demyx just took it in as a part of his charm.

54. Knighthood

"Prince Demyx, armed with nothing but a sword and shield and his striking good looks, hacks his way through a forest of thorns, taking down nightmarish creatures and monsters twice his size with _ease_, even stubbing his toe once or –"; Zexion whacked Demyx on the head and told him to stop daydreaming and get back to studying.

55. Chain

"This is ridiculous," Zexion said to Axel, his anger growing as he jingled the chain connected between himself and Demyx around, "We had _one _argument; I hardly think that warrants being handcuffed together."

56. Chess

After his sixth consecutive loss, Demyx made a face and swept his arm across the chess board, knocking any and all of the pieces to the ground, and asked Zexion, "Can't we just play video games?"

57. Trust

Demyx certainly looked honest enough, with his hand over his heart and his cute smile, but by the time Zexion returned home later that night, he knew the little, "Of _course_ you can trust me to make dinner, Zex," was a complete lie; they ended up ordering takeout – again.

58. Bliss

With his back up against Demyx's father's shiny new Cadillac, Zexion hooked his fingers into the blond's suspenders and tugged him a bit closer, sidling into his arms and wrapping his own around Demyx's neck as they moved and smiled into a soft kiss.

59. Torment

It was utter torture for him, having to be away for so long, but Demyx made sure to call every night, wishing Zexion a good night and telling him how he couldn't wait to see him again – just one more year, and his education abroad would be over and they could be together for good.

60. Illusion

Closing his eyes, he cast around them an illusion; it was cruel to say the least, but while Demyx could be alone with an imaginary ocean in that room, Zexion could be alone with his tea and a book in the other.

61. Reflection

Demyx glanced over at his reflection in the window of the train and – to his surprise, he caught the reflection of someone else too, someone looking right at him; he looked around across the way, and that's the story of how Demyx met Zexion.

62. Tower

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!" Demyx called dramatically – Zexion tossed his copy of the script to the floor and resumed reading his own book; "I'm not rehearsing this stupid play with you."

63. Love

Words were hardly needed anymore for the two of them – it could be confirmed with a single glance, and when people observed it from afar, whether they be strangers or friends or family, they all said, "Gee, Zexion and Demyx sure are mad for each other, aren't they?", and that was that.

64. Innocent

Demyx watched in amusement as Zexion's blank face remained calm and unperturbed at the things Axel was accusing them of doing at night – Zexion really was rather good at acting innocent.

65. Study

It took nothing more than a few shy glances over a geometry textbook and a couple of scribbled notes in the margins of books left out for Zexion to re-shelf — soon enough, Demyx was joined at his table in the library by someone claiming to be an expert at geometry, and a master at study strategies.

66. Shattered Pieces

Demyx followed Zexion back into the hallway and looked down at the pointy pieces of the broken vase lying all over the floor; quiet and sneaky, he kicked all the glass under the nearest rug and told Zexion to act like nothing had happened.

67. Exposed

"Demyx, you forgot your pants again," Zexion called lazily from the bedroom, and Demyx bashfully turned on his heel for the third time that week, setting down his guitar case in favor of slipping into his jeans.

68. Madness

Being locked up and tied down were the only things Zexion knew anymore – he didn't know people, hardly knew himself; his mind was a stranger and he didn't understand half the thoughts that ran through it daily – the men and the woman in the black coats, the boy with the key: all mysteries to him, and all he knew anymore was the funny, blond hair of the man with the music and the pure heart and the water, and the locked door and the white room around him, with its polished tiles and barred windows and the quiet, so, so quiet, without that music, the one that was like a guitar, the sky-blue of the instrument, and two numbers: nine and six…

69. Torn

Tired and sore, Zexion sat up and rubbed his eyes, wondering why his favorite shirt was on the floor, torn apart – and then he saw Demyx next to him, naked, and the soreness of his muscles and… er… _lower _half was suddenly (embarrassingly) explained.

70. Weakness

One night, Demyx found out that Zexion was extremely ticklish – it all went downhill from there.

71. Water

It didn't rain at the Castle – it was always the same dull, dark weather, gray and dry but never cloudy or windy or rainy or anything; Demyx noticed Number Six's sudden interest with other worlds' weather patterns and, one day each week, would take him outside and bring a heavy rain down from the sky, just for him, just to see the content look take over his face.

72. Protect

Demyx shook his head sadly and pointed the gun at Axel's smirking face, stepping in front of Zexion and saying lowly, "I'm sorry, Axel, but I just can't let you have what's mine," and with one small twitch on Demyx's part, the redhead fell to the floor in a heap of red and black.


End file.
